The incident served to emphasise how e-commerce and social media have transformed shopping behaviours. In the month that Petersfield Bookshop felt the benefits of an enhanced online presence, digital channels accounted for 19% of all retail sales in the UK, up from 12.8% five years prior. That proportion surged to a record high of 33.4% in May as COVID-19 lockdown measures meant that most traditional brick-and-mortar avenues were unavailable, further demonstrating how an increased reliance on the web is reshaping age-old habits. Meanwhile, social media has enabled people to discover new brands through their peers, celebrities, and the brands themselves. Indeed, in April, 27% of global consumers said they’d found new brands or products since the start of the pandemic via ads on social platforms.

So, how can they go about building their brand online in a way that resonates with people?

Discovery and engagement is one area to focus on to ensure your brand sets its tone and characteristics right up front in the customer discovery phase. Consistent content generation is one way in which brands are building their online profiles while also seamlessly blending in ‘commerce content’ (think subtle selling) to ensure products and brand beliefs are being showcased.

Building relationships is also key to driving a community aspect around your brand. Your brand strategy needs to include your ‘community strategy’ from the start. Making consumers feel like they belong to a community (that your brand might of even created) is a strong method of creating a space for people with shared interests.

Offer a sense of intimacy and exclusivity – With 55% of UK consumers (IPSOS) feeling they’re going unrecognised when interacting with online merchants, there’s a clear need for brands to personalise the way they communicate with shoppers. This can be done via personalised email campaigns or even by creating exclusive content or offerings for customers once they have purchased your product or service.

It’s a long road to gain trust and become a trusted advisor within the lives of your consumers but if you think about some of the first steps above, we hope you’ll be on your way.

For brands and businesses trying to navigate these uncertain times, we’ve put together a guide that looks at 3 key areas that might help vaccinate your brands health for when we reach a new kind of ‘normal’. Think of it as a playbook to navigate the now and the next.

In the face of difficulty, businesses are finding exciting opportunities to not only survive, but thrive, putting future-forward processes and operations in place to ensure their success long-term, even in the face of uncertainty. There have been powerful pivots brands and retailers are making to create services, products and experiences that meet the quickly evolving needs of consumers in a climate of restriction and crisis. These emerging consumer behaviours and savvy businesses strategies are leveraging creativity, agility, technology and resourcefulness to respond.

1. Embrace the digital way 

If you’re primarily run out of a brick-and-mortar store, it’s time to find the digital version of whatever work you were doing. Can you deliver your product or service electronically? If you own a boutique, now is a great time to launch an ecommerce store with a 90-day Shopify trial. If you’re a fitness instructor, you can continue your regular workout classes virtually with Zoom. Ask yourself: what you can provide online?  

2. Leverage your existing assets and resources

Leverage your current assets and resources and align them with your customers’ current needs. What could you change in order to fulfil those needs? What do people need most right now?  How can your company fill that need with your existing resources? If your business is unable to operate, is there a way to pivot to digital or a business that is deemed essential?

3. Deepen loyalty with existing customers

We’re all in this together. Be real, authentic and transparent about your efforts to serve your customers as best as you can – and let them know how they can support you in return. Loyal customers are champions for your company and brand ambassadors. Continue to maintain a strong relationship with your clients whether directly, individually, in newsletters, and or/via social media. Show them you care. Trust matters (more than ever)! 

With people spending more and more time online, it’s a great time to share relevant and engaging content related to your business – figure out the best way to engage with your current customers and do so in creative ways.  

4.Explore the benefits of collaboration

here’s an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”  The objective of collaboration can be new ideas, exploring synergies, and creating new business partnerships, where 1+1 = 5.  Partnerships can help give you access to new customers, new products or new markets. What partners can you work with that also have resources you can leverage? Is there a partner you think could help sell your product or service to their customer base? What could you offer them in exchange? Is there an opportunity to bundle your products together? True partnerships and successful collaborations are win-win. 

If your business has been greatly impacted by the current crisis, you’re not alone. It’s important to remember that great companies can be built in hard times. If you think you might want to pivot or have been thinking about it, Brainchild would love to be part of that conversation. Ready to throw some ideas around?

Most businesses will suffer in a recession, usually because demand reduces and uncertainty increases. Experts are talking about this being like no other similar economic situation witnessed, there have been no oil price increases, financial panics, and most governments have moved to implement unprecedented measures to assist companies to ‘hunker down’ and weather it out as best possible. 

But whilst it is unlike previous downturns, there are certainly some lessons that can be learnt and there is plenty of evidence to support how you might weather this storm and come out of it in a relatively strong position ready to build again. 

Get comfortable with change

You’re probably dealing with an overwhelming amount of decisions from debt management, client relationships, how best to support your workforce in their new ways of working, how to adapt your services to be fully remote and getting your head around the lightning speed your organisation has had to digitally transform. But the underlying thing to remember is that a recession is a high-pressure change management environment, you need to get your flexible head on, be comfortable with change and be ready to adjust quickly.

Focus on your current customers 

Take an empathetic approach, check in regularly, think about what their pains are right now and consider if there is anything you can do to help. Switch your focus onto your clients and not yourselves, understand the crises they are facing and how you could help mitigate their problems. Now is the time to strengthen those relationships even more than before. If you don’t have key client plans in place, get them done. If you do, review them at the very least weekly. Get your best people client facing and engaged. 

Double down on sales and marketing

You’re probably thinking ‘well they would say that wouldn’t they’ – but it’s not just from personal experience of the last recession, there is plenty of evidence to show that those companies that simply switch off all sales and marketing efforts in a downturn take longer to turnaround and risk losing audience and momentum. The flywheel has to keep spinning and the more fuel you add to it the more momentum you gain for the upturn.

We are all going to have to make some very difficult decisions in the coming weeks and months that could have ramifications for a long time after this global crisis comes to an end on the future of our businesses. 

Whether you’re a new business or one that’s been around for decades, these times might be more difficult than you’ve ever faced before – seek out the opportunities in dark times and your business will survive, you just have to be bold enough to go for them.